The IPO market is bustling again, and GoPro (GPRO 4.42%) was this week's darling debutante. The popular maker of wearable cameras was set to go public between $21 and $24, and that was already raising brows on valuation concerns. Revenue had soared 87% to hit nearly $1 billion last year, but GoPro followed that up with a surprising dip in sales during the first three months of 2014.

Was GoPro peaking? The market didn't seem to care. GoPro has made it clear that it plans to be more than just a hardware company, and the prospects of its role as a media hub or distributor while high-def camera sales slow are compelling. GoPro cameras are popular with celebrities and hobbyists who partake in extreme and outdoor sports, and if GoPro can craft a community culture around its brand, it will extend beyond today's product lines.

That may seem to be a pretty lofty assumption, but it was enough to woo the market. GoPro priced at the high end of its range on Wednesday night, and $24 apparently wasn't enough. The stock soared 31% on its first day of trading, following that up with a 14% pop on Friday. The path from $24 to $35.76 in two trading days is pretty wild. Eyeing the chart, it's just the kind of mountain that some GoPro users would love to scale, with their wearable cameras recording every step of the ascent.

Briefly in the news
And now let's look at some of the other stories that shaped our week.

  • MannKind (MNKD -1.18%) finally received FDA approval for its inhaled insulin product, but the shares closed lower late in the trading week after the head nod came with a warning-label requirement. That shouldn't be much of a deal breaker, though. The late sell-off was likely more of the "sell on the news" variety.   
  • Keurig Green Mountain (GMCR.DL) announced a deal to provide K-Cups at BJ's Wholesale Club for the warehouse club's proprietary Wellsley label. It's another deal where Keurig Green Mountain is able to beat out private-label manufacturers to provide the portion packs that fuel its single-serve brews. 
  • The market for premium soft drinks is about to get even more interesting now that Starbucks (SBUX 0.90%) is expanding its test for handcrafted carbonated beverages. The java giant added root beer, ginger ale, and lemon ale to 3,000 of its coffeehouses on Monday. It's not just about double lattes anymore.